I Caught Fire
by Camy-Tay
Summary: What happens when Sakuno becomes a singer, Ryoma starts dating Tomoka, and Sakuno is no longer friends with Tomoka? And what does Ryoga have to do with anything?
1. Chapter 1

_Way to go, Echizen. Real dick-move, _Sakuno thought, looking at the green-haired boy laughing with a girl on the othe side of the classroom._Thanks for telling me I sucked._

She sighed and looked out the window next to her seat and tapped the pen on the notebook in front of her. If only writing lyrics could help her now. It meant nothing to the tennis player. He never even listened to her sing before.

Sophomores in high school, the two had come a long way together. Sakuno had completely given up the idea of becoming a tennis player like the other ladies in her family, and Ryoma had made giant leaps and bounds, even playing in several Opens

"Ryoma-kun, you're so funny," his girlfriend said. Sakuno had to fight the urge to gag. "Don't you think Ryoma is so funny, Sakuno?"

Finally she turned to face the two. "Gee, I think he's an emotionless dick-head that doesn't know how to be funny, Tomoka. But if you want to think he is, there's nothing on earth that could make me change your mind. Now can I get back to my work?" she snapped.

Ryoma sighed. Ever since he asked Tomoka out, all he heard was shit. Tomoka and Sakuno suddenly stopped being friends, he and Sakuno seemed strained, and the Regulars that he now attended high school were always telling him he screwed up.

"Well, if you really think writing those silly songs is important," Tomoka said. "But work? Please. I could write them in my sleep."

"Fine," Sakuno said, standing up. She handed Tomoka a piece of paper. "If you think you can write such great lyrics, go ahead. I'll give you until tomorrow. We'll settle it at the end of tennis practice. See who has better lyrics."

"Deal," Tomoka replied. "I'll even bring in a CD of me singing them. And the Regulars will judge!"

"No! All those Regulars can't make up their minds. Pick five!"

"No, we'll use all ten. Unless you're too afarid."

"Fine. We'll use all _eight_ Regulars and Inui. Happy?"

"Fine!"

"Fine!""I'll see you tomorrow! Get used to getting beaten!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes and sighed inwardly. This was going to be another stupid contest. He couldn't _wait_ for it.

"_Wah_? Ochibi, you have to do something!" Momo whined. "Do you realize how bad it will be? I can't vote for Tomoka, anyways--and I have a date with An after practice! Ochibi!"

"Kyaa!" Eiji replied, frowning. Then he smiled. "That's okay! I bet we could honestly tell them who's better. I just don't want to offend Sakuno-chan if it isn't her."

Ryoma sighed. "Look, I don't care. Pick whichever one you want. I'm going to be miraculously sick."

Suddenly a shadow loomed over him and Ryoma turned to see Tezuka. "Are you really now?" he asked, glaring.

"No, sir. I will be here on time and ready to practice bright and early tomorrow. I'll just be miserable," he replied, glaring at his shoes. "Buchou, who would you vote for?"

"Why wouldn't I vote for Sakura?" he countered. "No offense, but she's had four years of experience. Besides, she's my cousin. I'm biased, thus I can get out of it."

Ryoma almost forgot that. Eiji and Tezuka were Sakuno's first-cousins. After her parents died when she was young, she lived with her grandmother and sometimes with the two Regulars.Then he looked to Eiji. "You'd really vote unbiased?" he asked.

Suddenly Momo cheered. "I was her brother's best friend growing up! She's practically my sister. I can get out of it! Yes!"

Eiji laughed and ruffled the hair on the back of his head. "Well, if I were biased, I'd have told Sakuno she was prettier than BoA Kwon. You heard our giant screaming match when I told her she wasn't."

Inui laughed, scaring everyone. "I remember that. There was a thirty-percent chance you'd come out without injury."

"Kyaa," he moaned, rubbing his lower ribs. "Don't remind me. It still hurts from when she punched me."

"Eiji, it was three months ago," Oishi replied.

"I know."

Everyone suddenly grew very silent.

"Okay!" Tomoka said after tennis got out and the boys were _all_ there. "You all are going to be our judges. It's a fight between me and Sakuno to see how difficult writing lrics really is. I have a CD made of me--what Momo-senpai?"

"I have a date with An. I can't be playing this little game," he said. "Besides, I'm biased. Saku-chan's like my little sister. Her brother and I were best friends when he was alive. She was always my doubles partner."

Ryoma froze. "You play doubles?" he asked Sakuno. "Why didn't you tell me that before? We should have had you training to _play_ doubles."

Sakuno rolled her eyes. "Moving on. Eiji and Tezuka, you can go. I think Tomoka can agree that being family makes you biased."

"No way," Tomoka said. "You're just afraid that your own family will like me more than you. But if you're that afraid, I guess I can let them go. After all, I'll beat you anyways."

"Eiji, Tezuka, you're staying now. Momo, tell An she can come vote too, but we're proving once and for all that Tomoka has to stop telling lies and acting superior," she said, just as the three tried to run away.

"Please. Are you still hung up on the fact _I'm_ dating Ryoma and _you're_ not?" Tomoka sneered.

"Yes, because that broke _so_ my heart," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I mean how you're always saying how amazing you are at sports, when really you suck. And you say you're always busy watching your siblings so you don't have to prove it, when the youngest is six, and Mitsuki does all the baby-sitting now. Or how about how you always say how amazing you sing, when you fake a sore throat when asked to. Or writing, or friends. Why do you have to act and pretend you're superior?"

No one understood what was going on. Tomoka had always talked bigger than she was, but they always assumed Sakuno was too naive to figure it out. Like when she was almost raped because she believed Tomoka was going out with a model and needed her help at his apartment.

And suddenly Ryoma realized how small he was on this scale. They hadn't been friends for years, and here he was sticking himself in the middle. And here he was just wanting to forget he liked his friend that way.

Tomoka huffed. "Yeah? I can prove right now I do too have a voice. Listen to my song on the CD. It's called 'Human' and it's in English."

When it came on, Momo lit up at the music. When it ended, he smiled. "I love that song," he said.

Tomoka smirked and looked haughtily at Sakuno. She didn't drop her gaze and waited for the defeaning blow of what Momo said next. "Skye Sweetnam is an amazing singer. I have _Sound Soldier_ on my iPod. Do you have any of her other songs on your CD?"

Oishi looked at Momo. "Momo, Tomoka wrote the lyrics and sung it herself."

He shook his head and it was Sakuno's turn to smirk. "I have the song right here. It was released by this Canadian singer a few months ago. Who would be dumb enough to confuse Tomoka for Skyye Sweetnam."

Everyone crowded around the iPod and Tomoka froze. Damn, she chose an obscure song for a reason! Suddenly everyone was there surrounding her.

"We've come to a decision," Oishi said, sounding authoritative. "You can still compete if you can sing the song word-for-word...after Sakuno does her song."

Sakuno nodded and took out a sheet of paper. "I don't have any music for this yet, so it might sound a little odd," she started. She was stopped when someone glomped her from behind and ruffled her hair, no longer left in pigtails since she became a famous singer. "Ryoga-kun!" she screamed, laughing as she hugged him.

Now Ryoma was seething. What was his brother doing here? "Hey, Aku-chan. I was looking all over for you. What'cha doing?"

She held up the lyric sheet. "You forgot to call last week, by the way. We were supposed to go to the amusement park. So, what's the excuse?" she asked, smiling.

"I got busy. How's Baachan?" he asked, looking it over. "Is this a duet?"

"Yeah, but I can sing it by myself. Who were you screwing around with this week? Please say it was competition. And you left them heartbroken and unable to sing again."

"Sorry. I was at my tousan's getting chewed up for screwing around all the time. He had some kind of issues, when really he put me up for adoption, so he shoudln't care if I play tennis and sing at the same time. Hey! Ryoma! Are you two finally going out?"

"Why would they go out?" Tomoka asked, snidely. "He's my boyfriend. Who are you?"

"Ryoma's big brother, and Sakuno's favoritest half-brother," he replied hugging the two and pulling them close. "And besides, look at how cute they look. I mean they look cuter than Eiji's sister's stuffed animals."

"Hey! When have you seen her stuffed animals?" he yelled, frowning.

"Now that has to be cute, cuter than those stuffed animals," Momo murmured, Fuji and Oishi agreeing.

"When was everyone in my sister's room?" Eiji yelled.

"Guys!" Sakuno yelled. "Ryoga, are we singing or not?"

"What's the vocal range? The sound?" he asked.

"I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm going to try out a style, and then see how it goes. I brought this though," she said, showing her guitar. "I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete."

She started strumming, and when she came to chords she liked, she started to sing. "Seemed to stop my breath...no, no," she muttered. She stopped the guitar, then tried again. "Seemed to stop my breath, my head on your chest, waiting to cave in, from the bottom of my..."

Ryoga stepped in with the next line in the verse. "Hear your voice again, could we dim the sun, and wonder where we've been."

Sakuno took over again, really liking the music. "Maybe you and me, so kiss me like you did, my heart stop beating, such a softer sin."

Now they started a new verse and sang together, "I'm melting, I'm melting."

Oishi coughed and thetwo stopped. "Sorry."

"It's all right," she said, smiling. "I got agood idea that I want predominate electric guitar in this song. And I want it to be a solo. I'm cutting the duet."

"Aku-chan, sell this one. I can tell you right now, some friends of mine in America would love to sing it. Bert McCracken would sound great inging lead."

She sighed and handed him the lyrics. "_Fine_," she answered, resigned. "I have another I want to work on anyways."

He smiled and hugged his adoptive brother and half-sister again. "By the way, I'm having a party this weekend. _Both _my dads are holding it, so you're _both_ coming. Kay?"

"I guess," Sakuno replied, grabbing Tezuka's arm. "_Buchou,_" she drawled.

"I'm not going dress-shopping with you again," he replied. "Eiji hasn't gone in a long time."

"Pass. Ryoga, you go take her. Is it even a formal party?" Eiji asked. "You haven't gone out shopping with your sister ever."

"Let's put it this way, Eiji. The emperor of Japan is coming," Ryoga said. Then he sighed. "Come on, Aku-chan. My girlfriend Azami can find you a pretty dress."

"May I have this dance?" Ryoma asked, blushing.

Sakuno looked up and laughed. "You look very dashing," she teased. "Where's Tomoka?"

He shrugged. "I dumped her, day after your contest. She got too annoying. It was a giant pain. Why didn't you go back to school?"

Sakuno took his hand and went to the dancefloor. "I was home sick. I stayed up that whole night trying to write the lyrics, and then Bert McCracken called Ryoga, who called me, just to talk about the song. All I ate all day was a breakfast bar. The next day I was so tired I tried to make up for what I didn't eat, and then I started to throw up."

Ryoma winced. "That sucks. But at least you made it today."

She laughed and it sounded stuffy. "Yeah. I'm hyped up on Ringl right now though. I had, like, three bottles before I left. So you and Tomoka broke up? That's...I don't know what to say."

"Well, I've been thinking about asking this other girl out, too. So, I guess you only have two options for what to say."

"And what would they be?" she asked."Yes or no to being my girlfriend," he said.

Sakuno smiled at hi and pretended to think. "I've come to a decision. Yes."

Ryoma smiled and hugged her before planting a kiss on her cheek. "By the way, Tomoka said she gave up, but that you only one by forfeit."She smiled and he caught a mischevious glint in her eye. "Well, I guess I have to beat her again, huh?"

Ryoma laughed, and the two missed when Ryoga and Nanjiroh slapped hands and smiled at the two. "It's about freakin' time," Nanjiroh said. Ryoga could only nod in agreement. "I'm glad he got such an amazing girl."


	2. Attention Fans

Hello,

This is not the writer you know as Camy-Tay. This is her brother, Jae, and I regret to inform you that she will no longer be able to write stories for you. November 18 of 2009, we received word that Cam had cancer. We caught it during her check-up after having the tapeworm removed, but we had not caught it in time.

April 17, 2010, Cam passed away from leukemia.

It has taken me almost a year to figure out her password to tell everyone what has happened. I am sorry for all of you that expected updates. I don't know why she ever made her password the mascot of the first boarding school she attended, but whatever. I loved her, but she was weird.

That being said, I know nothing about , except that Cam wrote on this website and she would want her followers to know she passed. I think they receive updates on her every entry, but I will try to post this letter at the end of every story she's written.

I will keep her page up and try to have her friends write stories in her memory so that she may live on, but I haven't talked to many of them since her funeral.

I'm sorry and God bless Cam. May she be in good hands.


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